The challenge of dynamic workplace programs in flex / coworking offices.

NOTE: This article was inspired by a realization I had while working for WeWork, but I believe the situation and advice applies to all cases where enterprises with advanced workplace programs leverage flex / coworking / services office operators, terms used interchangeably in this article. These views are absolutely my own.

The Setup

I once heard a former WeWork colleague tell a potential enterprise client that:

"Our design principles ensure a positive workplace experience for your employees."

Dreamy as it sounds, that statement triggered my Workplace Nerd Alarm™, which quickly sent me to a whiteboard where I drew the model below. Don't worry about deciphering it now, I'm going to explain the basics here.

Sure, when a small company decides to move into a coworking space, I would agree that their experience is highly influenced by how the environment is designed and managed by the operator, e.g. WeWork, Industrious, Convene, Serendipity Labs, Regus, Knotel, etc. This is because most, if not all, of the employees of that fledgling company were probably involved in the decision to be there. They decided that hunting for outlets in Starbucks was annoying. They met the community team for a tour. They will probably work there together.

But at the enterprise level, the story is very different.

The Cause

Real estate decisions for employees of mid-to-giant sized companies are almost always made on their behalf by someone in the real estate / workplace / facilities team. Those decision makers might even be a world away, disconnected from the culture, patterns, and preferences of the actual teams and employees slated to move in.

Furthermore, employees of larger companies are increasingly subject to "alternative" or "dynamic" occupancy and workplace strategies -- such as reduction of private offices, shifts from cubicles to workstations, desk sharing / hoteling / hot desking, remote working, etc. -- and this trend will only accelerate thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, no matter how amazing the design and operation of a serviced workplace is, the experience of new enterprise members will be always be influenced by how it is:

1. BUILT (SPACE) -- Decisions made in programming or fit-out quality, especially as compared to how the client might design their own facilities.
2. ASSIGNED (PEOPLE) -- The quantity and demographic of staff who have access to the site, the space allocation policies (e.g. office entitlement, desk sharing) or behavioral protocols they are hypothetically supposed to follow, and the cultural norms of those teams which may or may not be well suited for their new home.
3. OCCUPIED (PEOPLE) -- How those people actually behave every day, e.g. who shows up, how they use the various settings, if they follow protocols, etc.
4. UTILIZED (SPACE) -- As a result of #2 and #3, how many seats are available, how effectively meeting rooms are used, the balance of supply and demand between a diverse range of space types, how financially prudent the CFO perceives the site to be, etc.

...and the problem for flex / coworking / serviced office providers is that items 2/3/4 are almost entirely out of their control.

The Effect

Here is one example of how the problem can play out, inspired by a real case I witnessed at WeWork:

XYZ Corp rents a 20 desk office with a local coworking provider. They assign 25 people from Finance to the site with a new desk sharing program. But Finance doesn't like sharing desks, and they're grumpy about a longer commute, so they start surreptitiously assigning desks and some people just opt to work remotely. A few weeks in, some rebels from Engineering start showing up because they love the free Kombucha, which makes the XYZ Corp space unbearably crowded and difficult to work in. Both groups complain to the coworking provider's Community Team saying the experience is terrible and/or they start providing a lot of one-star ratings when prompted for feedback.

Of course, the Community Team in this case likely has no idea that (A) the move caused a commute change for several members (B) a desk sharing program was implemented without sufficient change management and (C) some of the members aren't technically supposed to be there. They have also probably been instructed that only a far-off XYZ Corp CRE decision maker is authorized to request/make changes to the environment, so the members on the ground have very little agency to improve their situation.

Outsourcing the supply of your real estate solution can be easy. Outsourcing what it feels like to work for your company may not be.

The Solution, I Think

If flex / coworking / serviced office operators want to provide a successful journey from their beautiful and thoughtful designs, to a demonstrably incredible enterprise member experience, they must be fluent in the language of enterprise workplace strategies and able to guide their clients successfully across the divide.

To improve the likelihood that enterprise members behave how their CRE team believes they should -- bridging the gap from the ASSIGNED to OCCUPIED stages -- requires solid change management and transition support. Unfortunately, coworking operators typically can't provide that kind professional service, and many companies fail to prioritize change resources for "tactical" serviced office moves over more "strategic" projects.

To make it successfully from ASSIGNED to UTILIZED requires that the members on the ground have agency and autonomy to explore different work settings, including those in community / social areas outside of their employers' demised / private suite, and also to request at least some changes to the environment they're in.

No matter how this plays out, success will require close partnerships and active, two-way communication between coworking providers and their enterprise members...and probably also a healthy dose of analytics and system integrations that are not commonly deployed between serviced office providers and their members now.

The Wrap Up

My original whiteboard diagram represented the ASSIGNED -> OCCUPIED -> UTILIZED phases between workplace design and experience as a flywheel of sorts -- complete with required tools, key metrics, and relevant stakeholders -- since the cycle repeats when the realities of space utilization demand a change to the nature of how the space is assigned.

But for this article I was inspired to make a simpler and more comical comparison to a nearly impossible obstacle from the old TV show Wipe Out, where only an elite few participants can make it across the divide to a positive workplace experience.

Now, please don't get me wrong: I am not saying that all enterprise members have bad experiences in flexible / coworking / serviced office sites. I just want to highlight the potential storm that is coming when two forces collide:

1. Increase in dynamic and distributed workplace programs in response to COVID-19
2. Increase in use of workplace-as-a-service providers to address unpredictable futures

Flex providers must truly understand the workplace programs governing individual enterprise members' occupancy choices. The employers must be more comfortable sharing strategic information with their providers, and giving the employees on the ground more choice and autonomy. Both parties will have to integrate and exchange data in a way they have never done previously.

But all this is just my opinion, and I would love to hear yours.

I can be reached on LinkedIn, Twitter (@philkirschner), or by email at philkirschner [at] mac.com to discuss further or if you are interested in consulting support.